Only the Stars Knew
by AntaresPromise
Summary: "You don't remember?" For the first time Yuri's glacial voice lost its edge, "let me remind you then." Otabek's eyes widened as the Faerie Prince, his sworn enemy, gripped onto his collar and kissed him like midsummer's rain.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Prologue: One Lifetime Ago**

The ancient centaur with milky white irises almost dropped her scroll. Her face ashen, as pale as her wild hair, as the Faerie King grasped the corner of her violet robes embroidered with golden stars as he peered over the cursive quill print: _Yuri Plisetsky shall die by the hands of his beloved._

With a twisted smile, the King let go of her thin frame, so frail as if a strong gush of wind could reduce her to a bag of bones, "how _dare_ you speak ill of my son," his voice shrilling, his golden hair gleamed as light from the cruelest moon, "throw her into the Arena."

She neither begged nor cried, of course she knew her own fate to come.

Despite her blindness, she saw the world with such crystalline clarity more than anybody else on earth. She stood tall, defiant, and dignified until the masked Faerie guards dragged her away.

She threw her head back and laughed.

* * *

Otabek's eyes adapted to the darkness, he hid a shard of rock under the pocket of his tattered black robes. He scratched the side of the dungeon to keep track of days he spent in the darkness. _Thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight,_ he ran his hands along the lines he carved into stone. He wondered if he stayed here long enough he would forget his own name.

The remaining prisoners whimpered as they huddled together, as helpless as livestock awaiting to be slaughtered. Their numbers dwindled day by day. Every morning the guards came, chipping away at the crowd.

Above them, the Arena floor shuddered as the lesser demons chased the prisoners until exhaustion and fear froze them in their tracks. On occasion warm drops blood seeped through the wooden floor. Otabek shuddered as he reminisced of time he woke up to the taste of metallic blood dripping into his hair and through the crevasse at the corner of his mouth.

 _Tyrants,_ he bit his lip until he tasted blood as he cursed the Faerie King and his Faceless Ones - sworn loyalty to him for generations.

The Faerie King's powers seeped through the land like poison snaking into the once fertile ground, until nothing alive sprang from the earth.

The Faceless raided demon and shapeshifter villages with the excuses for not being able to pay the hefty tax warranting protection. They took captives like himself as payment instead, manacled, starved, and sent to the Arena to die while the Nobles watched.

Then footsteps approached, the villagers shuffled to the back of the cell, clinging onto each other with fear of being chosen. Otabek sat up, the chains bounding his hands and feet piled on the ground as a serpent awaiting for his prey.

The Faceless One with a midnight blue mask pointed one finger at him, "that one looks like he'd last longer."

He clenched his fists, as he plotted which guard to strangle first with his chains. But to his disappointment, they activated the Demon Manacle bounding his right wrist. He loathed the sliver of silver almost as much as the Faerie King. With ancient runes studded on its surface, the magic within the Demon Manacle inflicted excruciating pain ever time he even thought about escaping. A secret dark sect of Mages forged those forbidden artifacts them and sold them to the tyrant King through the black market.

The white hot pain spread from his wrist to the rest of his body, mimicking the sensation of him being ripped to shreds.

The next thing he knew, they dragged him by the metal ring around his neck from this cell. He swore in silence because he left his secret shard of rock that he carved lines on the wall, keeping track of time and his sanity.

Otabek memorized the map of the dungeons down to every crease and crevasse to heart, biding his time for escape.

He overheard the guards mumbling, "Prince Yuri is going to be thrown into the Arena soon."

The other masked Faceless shoved the place between Otabek's shoulder blades with the butt of his spear sending him lurching forward violently responded, "he deserves it, his little rebellion was futile, the King squashed it like flies. I wish I had that day off so I can watch."

 _Prince Yuri,_ Otabek heard of him before. _He should be twenty one this year,_ if Otabek recalled correctly. The tyrant King fathered many children, most he drowned or killed in their crib for fear of them usurping his crown.

At last they arrived before a cell, more spacious than the rest, at the lowest level of the place without light, with a silver leaf etched into the metal bar on top of the gate. Otabek understood that symbol, this cell's harboured Royalty.

One guard fumbled through his robes for a large ring with a single black key at the end, opened the gate with practiced hastiness and shoved him inside, "You are to serve the traitor Prince, until you are thrown into the Arena with him." He laughed.

Then a flash of gold and white accompanied by the sound of even more chains uncoiling like a serpent striking. The other guard gasped for air as he begged for mercy.

The Faerie Prince's hand reached through the bars and clasped around the other guard's windpipe ready to deliver the fatal blow, "take off his chains, or else."

The first guard cursed, as Otabek reached his wrist through the bars until the familiar weight of the black chains left him feeling as if he could fly.

Satisfied, the Faerie Prince shoved the guard by his neck as hard as he could, almost knocking the wind out of him when his body hit the opposite side of the dark dungeon walls. He yelped with pain, while fixing his tilted mask. Taking off their mask before others was considered taboo amongst the Faceless Ones. They swore an oath to renounce their name, origins and their entire past.

Before they left, the guard Yuri almost killed spat at him, "I am going to enjoy watching the demons rip you into pieces."

Yuri ignored him, as he settled down onto his makeshift bed made of straws, his chains trailed after him, "what's your name?"

Nobody asked him that question for days, Otabek's swallowed, his mouth as dry as cotton. He wondered without that shard of rock he carved one line per day, whether he would forget even his name. "Does it matter?" He towered over the Faerie Prince with golden hair down to his shoulders and one earring ending in an emerald the same shade as his eyes.

"It does to me," Yuri propped his chin up with his palm, resting his elbow on his crossed legs.

"Otabek. Otabek Altin," his own name now foreign on his chapped lips.

Yuri stood up and from the depth of his cell, he poured water from a dull silver jug into an old goblet. Reading Otabek's hesitance, he sipped it first.

Before he knew it, Otabek emptied the cup and already started drinking from the jug Yuri handed to him.

He never tasted something more delicious in his life, better than the purest apple cider and his town's best ale.

He never knew he loved water this much.

He drank half of it and wiped his cracked lips with the back of his hand, a trail trickled from the corner of his mouth onto the back of his bare feet. _What a waste,_ he shook his head.

"It's alright," Yuri chuckled, "even though I am condemned for treason, they would still give me water if I asked. It's alright, Otabek, you don't have to save the rest for me."

 _How could he still laugh at a time like this?_ Perplexed, he mumbled thanks and downed the rest of the contents of the scratched silver jug, resisting every temptation to pour the rest over his head to feel clean again.

Yuri regarded him, half amused.

Then he noticed the indescribable sadness etched within Yuri's forest green eyes.

With the ghost of the chains that bound his hands, neck, and feet, Otabek sat at the other side of the dungeon five feet away from the Faerie Prince.

They didn't say much more for the rest of that night, or for the next few days.

* * *

Yuri tugged onto the sleeves of his white shift as drumming resembling the beginning of a battle reverberated from the world above. His face ashen, his breaths uneven.

Otabek paused in mid motion. He knew the rhythm of those drums, resonating with his heartbeats. _Thump thump! Thump thump! Thump thump!_ They slowed down and faded. Meant to mimic fading heartbeats, he cussed the Faerie King's twisted ways, beating the drum like this meant one thing: an execution.

"Damnit!" Yuri's fist thrusted into the pile of hay sending wisps flying.

Otabek leapt up and caught his wrist in midair, his knuckles now bloody, "stop it."

"Let go of me!" Yuri hissed as he struggled to break free, his chains clanking together.

The drum stopped, time froze as the surface of a lake in the dead of winter.

Then cheering crowd followed.

"No!" Yuri's green eyes wide, his vision bleary. He clasped his half opened mouth with his hand, barely able to breathe.

From the gossip from the guards passing by, Otabek pieced the events together.

Yuri's brother, along with the remaining forces of their rebellion perished on this day, extinguished like moths plummeting into the flames.

Yuri shoved him with his other arm. Despite his strength, Otabek kneeled next to him, unshaken.

Without realizing his own actions, Otabek wrapped his strong arms around him.

Yuri stiffened. His shoulders shuddered, as hot drops soaked through the front of Otabek's tattered robes. Otabek ran his hands through Yuri's golden locks, rubbed his back until his silent sobs faded.

He held Yuri until he fell asleep that night.

* * *

They didn't know when Yuri begun to sleep nestled against Otabek's chest. Perhaps it was ever since that night that everyone else from Yuri's rebellion perished.

Otabek didn't mind.

Sometimes Yuri presented with strange requests. His emerald eyes sparkled as Otabek sang to him, an ancient lullaby named "Demon Song" in the ancient version the demons' language.

In exchange, Yuri recounted stories about stars. The Centaurs raised him as one of their own, after all. Otabek confess to fantasized about being free, and lying in the grass with Yuri's head on his shoulder and zoning in and out while Yuri spoke of legends in such an vivid manner, filled with life. Yuri spoke of the of Orion the hunter in the sky, of Sirius, the lone wolf, and Altair, the lonely shepherd who could only meet his lover once per year over a bridge made of birds.

From time to time, they almost forgotten that they would be sent to their death in the Arena at any given moment.

They lost count of the number of days spent inside the dungeon. The same set of guards dropped off trays of bland food and left without words.

Even they grew sympathetic, because they listened to Yuri speaking often of all lives being equal and precious.

The old guard with a midnight mask, who always made sure the water jug stayed filled, one day grasped the bars as he slumped his shoulder over with defeat, he shook his head and passed the silver container to Yuri, "my Prince, I'm so sorry."

Yuri thanked him as he bowed his head, acknowledging the elderly with respect, "when?"

"Tomorrow."

"Can I ask you for a few things?" Yuri whispered into the old man's ear and he nodded.

* * *

Yuri spent the rest of the day leaning against Otabek's chest, unwilling to part with him for even a second.

"I don't care about tomorrow, Beka, for tonight," Yuri wouldn't let go of his hand, "stay with me."

Otabek parted his lips and nodded, his pulse accelerating. _Could he mean?_

Yuri paid the old guard with the single golden cuff he removed from his ear worth more than the guard's salary for a lifetime in exchange for a lamp, a bar of soap, a warm bucket filled with water, and two slices of pecan pies. The guard's footstep faded, leaving them alone in the darkness.

The finished their pies in silence.

"Beka, turn around," Yuri whispered, "they won't disturb us tonight."

Otabek heard the sound of Yuri's robes coming undone and him stepping into the large bucket. A few splashes of warm water hit the top of his feet like midsummer's rain. His face burning. In the twenty three years of his life, he took his fair share of lovers. He knew he wasn't too shabby when it came to looks. Demon and mage girls alike giggled behind him. One night, he recalled a mage girl with soft brown hair, golden eyes insisted on leading him to the barn where they rolled around in hay. Her breasts soft against his muscular chest, her face flushed as he pushed her deeper into the pile. _It wasn't my fault, she wanted it,_ he reminded himself as she undid her bodice revealing her pink nipples.

 _Was it pleasurable? Of course,_ he would be a liar if he said he didn't enjoy it. But he never grew attached to her in the same way he felt about the Faerie Prince. An emotion he couldn't put down in words.

For the first time in his life, he found someone he wanted to hold onto.

He cursed the Demon Manacle bonding his wrist, the cold sliver of silver that brought excruciating pain every time he even thought about escaping. He wished he could reconnect to his powers of fire and burn this place to the ground. He clenched his fist, he loathed his powerlessness.

He would give up his life over and over if Yuri could be set free. At same time, he knew Yuri wouldn't leave this place without him.

Two more splashes followed by wet footsteps on the cold ground signaled Yuri finishing his bath.

Otabek restrained himself from turning around.

He heard Yuri covering himself again with his white shift.

"Your turn," Yuri sat crosslegged on the ground, facing away from the wooden bucket, his wet hair leaving translucent streaks on his white shift.

Otabek obeyed in silence, self conscious all of a sudden. _How long had it been?_ He didn't remember, _since his skin touched warm water._ In the dark pens where he waited for his turn to be devoured by demons in the Arena, from time to time the guards herded the into a smaller cell and splashed cold water at them. He confronted the choice between keeping his mouth wide to catch some drops versus the grease, scent of impending doom lingering on his body.

He submerged himself into the wooden bucket and opened his eyes. The lamp Yuri traded his ear cuff for flickered from above the surface of the water.

He ran the soap across his skin, scrubbing the dirt from under his nails, and every inch of his hair. He felt alive again. For when his turn came to fight to the death, he regained that small victory — his dignity.

He stepped out in silence, pulled his undergarments and tattered pants back on. Before he reached for his black tunic rumpled on the ground. Yuri stood up and pinned him against the wall. His golden hair pasted against his scalp, his skin translucent in the lamplight. Despite clad in the simple white shift of a prisoner, he never lost his regal air, he was the Faerie Prince after all.

Caught by surprise, cold stone wall dug into Otabek's back, while Yuri's hand on his shoulder hot and burning.

Yuri stepped closer until his fingers traced the lines on Otabek's bare chest, making his intentions crystal clear.

"I never told anyone this before," Yuri watched his every move. His hands travelled up as he stroked the side of Otabek's face as if he was the most precious thing in the world, "the Centaurs read the stars for all of us born into the royal family, whether we liked it or not."

Otabek closed his eyes and listened to his own heart flutter out of control. Growing up a warrior, a guardian of his village, and walking along the cusp of death multiple times, he never experienced anything like this.

"I never heard something so absurd in my life, _'Yuri Plisetsky shall die by the hands of his beloved,'_ they told me," Yuri laughed, "stupid isn't it, love," he nestled his head under Otabek's chin as his arms snaked around Otabek's bare skin, "my father is a monster incapable of empathy," he narrowed his eyes, "my mother died young, I don't even remember what she looks like. And my brother," he almost choked on those words, "his head and wings are are probably still on display on a spike." He shuddered.

"Yuri, I'm so sorry," Otabek held him tight, his lips gentle against the top of Yuri's beautiful head. He stroked Yuri's soft wet locks between his fingers.

"I didn't believe in this thing called love," Yuri pulled away from his embrace and their eyes met, he stood on tiptoes because of their height difference, until their lips mere inches apart, "until I -"

Otabek's heart almost stopped when Yuri pressed his soft lips against his for the first time.

Yuri didn't need to finish.

 _Until I met you._

Otabek cupped the Faerie Prince's face, he parted Yuri's lips with his tongue. Yuri opened up and let him in. If only, we met under any other circumstances than this. Pain one thousand times the intensity of anything physical pierced through his body as he kissed Yuri back with desperation and intensity he never even fanthomed before.

Breathless, with pink tinged cheeks, Yuri pulled back an inch, no longer on his tiptoes, "Beka, we won't live to see another sunset," he continued in a practical, matter of fact manner way, like the calm before the storm, "but tonight, I am yours, if you'd have me." He watched Otabek through his curtain of golden mane, already knowing his answer.

Otabek, at loss for words, picked him up instead. One of his arm lifted Yuri's from behind the knees and the other around his shoulder. Though lean, the Faerie Prince was surprisingly heavy. Otabek carried him to their makeshift bed.

"Wait," Yuri tilted his chin in the direction of the lamp he borrowed from the guard, "take me to the lamp."

Puzzled, Otabek lowered him until he picked it up and blew out the flickering flame, leaving them alone in the darkness.

Yuri threw the lamp onto the ground and the top shattered, exposing the glistening oil amidst the broken shards. He smirked with a hint of shyness mixed with mischief, and dipped his fingers into it as if showing Otabek what a clueless idiot he had been, "now I'm ready."

Otabek inhaled sharply when he realized the real reason Yuri asked for lamp. His heart pounding wild in his chest, blood whirling, buzzing through his veins. With trembling hands the knot that fastened Yuri's white shift came undone.

Otabek traced his lip along Yuri's neck, the place next to his pulse as Yuri unravelled him with slender fingers.

They stopped caring about tomorrow and the horror, undignified injustice awaiting for them ahead.

Yuri surrendered to him, still regal, still proud. He clawed at the straw as Otabek stroked his flanks leaving a trail of lamp oil and asked with the gentlest voice from on top, "am I hurting you?"

Yuri shook his head and clasped his mouth with the back of his hand, to prevent any sound he couldn't control from escaping, "Beka," he strained to speak because Otabek took him to the cusp between pleasure and pain, "when I die out there tomorrow, make me remember you."

Otabek wished time and this night would never end. He wrapped his arms around Yuri and buried his face into the Faerie's ivory skin pressing soft kisses on on his back, his neck, and every inch of him. His body rippled with pleasure until he no longer held back. Yuri followed him thereafter.

Yuri sat up straddling Otabek's hips, he kissed Otabek's eyes, his nose, and his Cupid's bow. Otabek, caught off guard, sighed from the sheer contrast of Yuri's softness, from his intensity just moments before.

Yuri's forest green eyes met his, as he tucked a stray golden strand behind Yuri's pointed ear.

Yuri removed the single emerald earring ending in an intricate golden leaf and fastened it on the chain around Otabek's neck, "Imagine Beka, some day, there will be a world where all lives are equal, no more Royalty, no more servants, no more Arena Fights."

"Let's meet again in that world," Otabek squeezed Yuri's hand interlaced with his own.

"I'll find you, Beka," Yuri squeezed back, "don't you dare forget me." He bit the place next to Otabek's collarbone.

"Never," Otabek touched the place where Yuri left his mark, then he squeezed Yuri's earring fastened next to his heart. He watched Yuri fall asleep in his arms, the most beautiful being he ever laid his eyes on before darkness claimed him too.

* * *

Without notice, rough hands and masked figures surrounded them, grasping them by the shoulders disentangling them.

Otabek knew what he had to do in the Arena. He refused to let Yuri become the last one standing, to be ripped from limb to limb by demons that the Faeries drove insane with starvation and their poisonous incense.

Before the first gate unleashing the monster opened, the crowd chanted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Beka, come, fight me for real," Yuuri drew his sword and smirked, "You never showed me how you fight."

Otabek's sword clashed with his, surprised by Yuri's light hearted expression at a time like this. The Cursed Demon manacle at his wrist burnt, forcing him to raise his sword against his will.

He endured through the white hot pain as the demon with curled horns, resembling the Minotaur clawed the dirt with his hooves from behind them. He leapt out of the way just in time. In a fit of rage, the beast stomped the ground, as earth rumbled. Its breaths putrid, impregnated with the scent of death, despair, and decaying flesh.

While the demon chased Otabek across the Arena, Yuri's searched for something in the crowd, then he met his father's cold, snake like eyes, identical shade as his own. With all of his strength, he threw his sword at the tyrant King. He knew the futility of his resistance, as his father's masked entourage of Faceless Ones congregated, stacking their own flesh as a living shield before their Master. The sword's tip drove into the wooden plank inches from his father's brow while the audience held their breaths. The Arena then exploded into whistles and cheers.

"Release them all," the Faerie King waved a hand in cold rage then a twisted smirk as he recovered from his moment of uncertainty.

Chains shuddered followed by the creaking sounds of wooden gates hoisting open. The beasts behind the the cages let out unearthly shrieks reverberating through the Arena.

Otabek blocked the demon coyote with skeletal rib cage and missing patches of the fur, while protecting Yuri, now sword-less.

To his surprise, Yuri clasped into the monster's neck and twisted, giving the starving animal a quick and clean death. Yuri didn't need his protection after all.

Another wolf attacked, biting into Otabek's forearm, ripping away a chunk of flesh as hot blood trickled down the hilt of his sword.

They couldn't last forever, despite both of their strengths combined. Nobody could.

A glistening trail of sweat followed the stream of congealed blood and dirt dripped along Otabek's arm, throbbing with white hot pain. The demons they fought laid in heaps of mangy fur and claws.

Then demons surrounded them, eyes sallow exuding hunger from every pore. The massive one resembling a Minotaur growled as he stalked a few steps closer towards the unarmed Faerie Prince.

Then Otabek's lips parted with shock, the same flood of warm indescribable emotions coursed through his being, like when their bodies joined last night without beginning or end.

Defiant, and unfazed, without a hint of fear, Yuri raised a hand and touched the monster wet snout.

The crowd gasped as they held their breaths as the Minotaur's growl softened and bowed.

Yuri turned and flashed a brilliant smile.

"Shoot them," the Faerie King spat out from the stand.

With unparalleled reflex, Otabek deflected the shower of arrows whistling in their direction.

A new silence filled the arena, the demons retreating into the perimeters, Yuri faced Otabek while the rest of the world melted away into irrelevance, as if they were the only tow people in the universe. Yuri touched his face, his dark hair, and the place where he left a mark on his skin last night. He flashed a smile meant for Otabek alone.

They no longer needed words, Otabek gripped tightened around the hilt of the sword until his knuckles pale and he closed the distance between them, their hearts pressed together.

"Promise me you'd find me," Yuri whispered into his lips, "in our next lifetime."

"I promise," Otabek closed his eyes. A strange sense of serenity surrounded him, of completeness, of realizing the exact place where he belonged.

He thrusted the blade through both of them.

Before the darkness claimed him, with their hot blood mixed together, becoming one, before his senses betrayed him, he comprehended from the shapes of four words from Yuri's lips he could no longer hear.

 _I love you._

 _Always._


	2. Chapter 2: the Crow's Foot

The wooden door of the tavern creaked open as a hooded figure entered. The tiny rusted golden bell rang, announcing his arrival.

With narrowed eyes, the other guests shuffled at the first sign of him. A new stillness filled the air.

Otabek almost smirked behind his cloak, as the demon perched on the next stool with pointed ears and razor sharp claws spilled his ale onto the wooden table that withstood the test of time at the first sight of him. Next to him another shapeshifter made a sharp _'Tst'_ sound through his teeth.

Nobody in the underbelly of the world, criminals, mercenaries alike, the whole nine yards of deadliness packed inside this tiny space, breathed for the next few moments as Otabek walked without a sound.

Nobody fucked with Otabek Altin.

Nobody ordinary dared to masquerade in here - the beating heart of the assassins' realm, where lives turn into transactions - with such ease either.

 _The Crow's Foot Tavern_ , Otabek liked this place, the intoxicating smell of the ale mixed with sweetness of House special pecan pie that could be found nowhere else in this Kingdom. He scanned around the room for his client and located him seated at the back near the wall, sticking out like a dove amidst vultures. Appearances meant little to nothing though. Of the mixed bag of scum and legitimate mercenaries that frequent this tavern, his client would not have been able to make it here unharmed without powerful magic of his own.

Sara Crispino waved at him from behind the counters, her brown hair pulled high in a ponytail fastened by a dark violet ribbon, the same colour as her eyes that flickered with reflection from the candles. He came here often enough for business that he no longer needed to order.

Otabek nodded in acknowledgment. He enjoyed her company, she was as fierce of a fighter as her brilliant unfazed smile. Nobody messed with her either. He liked her because she didn't ask questions.

He turned towards his client and settled on the tall wooden barstool. He loathed smalltalk as he dove straight into business, "how much." He rested his chin on top of his interlaced fingers.

The mage from across the table with messy black hair and a kind face like he couldn't hurt a fly, held up three fingers in slow motion. He wore a black traveling cloak to cover his midnight blue tunic. His shoulder slumped forwards like he could fall at any moment. His fingertips white from his grip around a crystal suspended from a chain at his neck, as if seeking comfort from its presence.

Otabek leaned in, "I'm listening." Three gold pieces lasted an average family an entire year worth of food, it converted to three thousand pieces of silver, which could fill a good sized chest. Most Demons, Shapeshifters alike would be lucky to even lay their eyes an eye on one piece of gold.

'Sorry,' the mage's voice as kind as his face begun from within Otabek's mind, 'I don't mean to be intrusive, and I assure you I will not read your thoughts or access your memories, it's just easier if we talk this way.'

Then extent of power the mage before him possessed and the reason he could show up in here unscathed became apparent. Goosebumps crawled up Otabek's arms, making every hair stand, but of course, his face remained the same, his training would not betray him. Otabek frowned at first then he nodded with residual reluctance.

'My name is Katsuki Yuuri,' The corner of his lip curled up a little, 'and I am offering thirty pieces of gold.'

Otabek inhaled sharply, _thirty. I could build more than a few houses for the Shapeshifter village, pay off their debt to the Centaurs, and maybe even fix that bridge._ His insides stirred with excitement as he calculated the cost.

'As you already know, the Faerie King is dead,' Yuuri pursed his lip, his brows crowded together, 'the Second Faerie Prince, Yuri Plisetsky is captured.' Sadness filled his warm brown gaze.

Otabek's right eye twitched, _Faeries, of course._ The only thing he hated more that Faeries was Prophecies. He lost everything because Faeries and damned Prophecies: his home, his kin, he watched Faerie soldiers destroy everything he had ever known and loved. All because a stupid Prophecy that the Faerie King will die by the hands of a Shapeshifter with the serpent form. The scene of a spear piercing through his twin brother's heart before his eyes when he was five years old played over and over again in his dreams. _Damien, I will avenge you_ , he bit the inside of his cheek.

'I want you to rescue him,' Yuuri's determined echoed through his mind.

Otabek sighed, in all honesty he liked the mage before him. Perhaps they could have even been friends. _Why would someone like him be involved with the likes of Faeries?_ He narrowed his eyes in distaste.

Yuuri flashed a half smile, 'I was just the village Healer, minding my own business, until the Eldest Faerie Prince, Victor Nikiforov, showed up half dead at my door.' A faint tinge of pink crept up his face as he avoided Otabek's gaze. His left hand found its way to the translucent stone suspended from his neck fastened by a thin golden chain again.

 _A Firestone_ , Otabek recognized the significance of the crystal suspended by a tiny yet intricate metal claw, _Victor's Firestone to be exact_. Demons, Faeries, and Shapeshifters alike promised themselves to each other by exchanging stone found at the bottom of the Sacred lakes, the equivalent of rings exchanged in the human world. He shook his head, he would never dive for his own Firestone, because he didn't believe in such thing as love.

'Long story short, I came to find you because this is the only way to keep Victor from plunging into the Faerie Court to save his half brother,' Yuuri sighed, 'to bring rain, he exhausted all of his magic, on top of that his injuries were draining the life out of him. I couldn't watch anymore, so I chained him to the bed while he fell asleep so I can come here to meet you.'

 _More assertive than he looked,_ amusement rose from within Otabek. He almost admired how fiercely the healer before him protected _his_ Victor.

Then Yuuri spluttered into his apple cider and blushed furiously, 'sorry, that came out sounding wrong.'

'It's alright,' He risked his life for a Faerie to be here, not just any Faerie. _Prince Nikiforov must be something_. Faeries took after their mother's names. He hated all of them, arrogant creatures that thought of themselves as superior to Shapeshifters and Demons. The Faerie King, who passed away recently, was the worst of their kind. _Good riddance._ A wave of grudging respect for Yuuri's courage and determination washed over him. Even though plunging into the depth of the Faeries' Court was the last thing he wanted, thirty pieces of gold. He couldn't ignore that sum. Unable to cast aside the image of Yuuko's triplets' eyes lighting up because their roof could finally be repaired, Otabek sighed and nodded. The Faerie King's soldiers, the masked guild named the Faceless Ones demanded tax from the villagers in exchange for the wind and rain so their crops would grow. When villages couldn't pay, the Faceless snatched their young ones away.

Yuuri's smile lit up the room. He sat up straighter. His shoulders no longer hunched over.

Otabek smirked as the disappointment of the pieces of scum shuffling around trying to overhear this conversation grew by the second. The aroma of pecan pie distracted him. Sara nodded at Yuuri, and flashed a curious look as she set down their plates. She wore a velvet form fitting dress with laces at her back, a short knife ending in a giant ring sheathed at her waist.

Two slices of pie and a large apple cider. Otabek craved for those. Though his tolerance for ale beats the average person, only fools drank until they forgot themselves at the Crow's Foot Tavern.

"Good pie," Otabek's real voice escaped his throat as he raised his fork, marveling at the existence of such deliciousness. The dark violet candle nearby burnt out, illuminated the grooves on pecans resembling brains. His stomach no longer lurched at the sight of brains spilling out of broken skulls. It was the nature of his work. The apple cider with just the right amount of sweetness complimented the pie with a touch of spiciness with perfection. If he the world ended tomorrow, this would be hands down his choice for a last meal.

"Amazing!" Yuuri's eyes widened then chuckled, "I am starting to sound like Victor too." As a mage capable of reading minds, his own thoughts resembled an open book.

 _He loved the Faerie Prince more than his own life,_ Otabek arrived at the conclusion. _Good for them,_ Otabek rolled his eyes, _love is stupid, a liability, an extra target for the enemies._ In all of nineteen years of his life, he preferred gold. Money filled bellies, kept the young ones safe, and fixed holes on the roofs. More and more villages hired the Centaurs to patrol the perimeters in case the Faeries faithful to the tyrant king attacked because they couldn't afford to pay taxes. Beautiful girls, Mages demons alike, tried to invited him into their bed. To nobody's surprise, some enemies tried to do him in using that tactic. He ignored them ever since that one time he found himself without his money or clothes. Too many wanted him dead for him to ever consider lowering his guards. Though oblivious, girls still whispered about his looks wherever he travelled. He didn't think any more of it.

"I am going to bring some of this back for Victor," Yuuri helped himself to another bite, "I never knew pecan pies can taste like this. I was skeptical at first, to tell you the truth."

 _Victor,_ Otabek sighed, _for fuck's sake._ Though Yuuri's appeared benign to the ordinary, the extent of his powers frightened even Otabek. _If those powers fell into the wrong hands_ , he shuddered. The ability to read minds, sense emotions such as malice, and to manipulate the will of even the strongest, empathy in its highest form. Chills ran down Otabek's spine. Yuuri could command someone to jump off a cliff if he so desired.

They finished their pies, Otabek insisted on escorting Yuuri out of this area. Even though he knew Yuuri's strength didn't warrant protection. Otabek didn't want one person with a good head on top of his neck amidst this fucked up place to die unnecessarily, not tonight, that would ruin his good mood after having favourite food. Besides, Otabek loved his gold.

Before they parted ways, the healer handed him a bundle, "just in case if Yuri has any injuries."

Otabek nodded. _Yuuri planned everything._ The more time he spent with the Healer with frightening powers, the more admiration for him grew. _He really is something else._

A plan formulated inside his mind, for him to infiltrate into the dungeons of the Faerie royalty, he needed to visit two places

The first of the two nearby and easy, the other trickier, his head throbbed thinking about it.

* * *

He nodded at the guards at the city gates, and stalked towards the the forest at the edge of the town with his faithful sword at his side. That blade, forged from the rare steel by the Ancients, was the last possession his late father left behind. As a child, he couldn't help but speculate who the sword his father intend to pass onto because of Damien, his identical twin. But after the Faceless attacked their entire village of serpent Shapeshifters, robbing the life of his entire family, he became its sole heir.

Otabek sighed, _thinking about him won't bring him back._

Sometime he imagined what if his brother survived? _Would he enjoy the art of the swords? Would he sparred with me? Who would have the more majestic serpent form when we Shapeshift._ Otabek shook those thoughts away. _You are being stupid,_ he bit his lip. _Damien is gone, thanks to the Faeries. Thanks to the stupid Prophecies conjured by those star gazing lunatics. He hated the Centaurs too._

He turned past a rock that resembled a sleeping monkey before the pine forest and whistled a tune.

Sound of tiny feet scampering on the pine needles approached as Otabek lips curled up, of course his little friend would be dying to be summoned.

A tiny chipmunk with a stripe of golden hair and red interspersed on his back encircled his feet, unable to contain his excitement.

With a snapping sound the chipmunk transformed into a fifteen year old with hair the same shade, a big grin on his face.

 _I need to make this quick,_ Minami can be annoying, but without a doubt, his vast network of spies and Shapeshifters in the form of rodents, would definitely be useful for this, "I have a job for you," Otabek cut to the chase.

Minami's eyes widened with awe, "yo-u, need me, for a job, you have no idea how happy I am right now!"

Otabek resisted the desire to bury his face into his palm, his reputation as the most feared mercenary proceeded him, "yes because you are a reliable and powerful source of information." _Okay, maybe with one compliment I can divert his gushing speech._

However, Minami's wide brown eyes turned beady for a moment, as if he was about to cry.

 _Fuck._ Otabek's headaches started brewing, "I need a map of the dungeons in the Faerie Court, and the whereabouts of the Prince, Yuri Plisetsky."

"You got it," Minami's balled his fists with determination, he puffed out his chest, his golden hair gleamed in the moonlight, "consider it done by dawn."

 _He does have some redeeming qualities, such as not asking questions,_ a wave of affection washed over Otabek. He pulled out the extra slice of pecan pie from the fabric of his travelling satchel, "I remember you like these."

Minami accepted the package with both hands, his eyes bleary.

Otabek ruffled his hair before he vanished into the night to his second destination and prepared for an even bigger headache.

* * *

Mila tried to invite Otabek into her bed since the first day they met.

"You need me, Beka," She tossed him a sultry look as he entered her hut in the middle of the forest. Her house, unremarkable from the outside like the dwelling of a hermit in the mountains, but within a different world of luxury and enchantments.

"Don't call me that," he clenched his teeth, for some reason his body reacted more violently to that pet name than any other words.

Mila reclined on her futon decorated in rich cream coloured silks with elaborate floral embroidery. Similar drapes of various shades of violet and amethyst cascaded from the ceiling. She leaned forwards with deliberation accentuating her low cut mauve robe. The air sweet around them, saturated with the scent of lavender. Her beauty undeniable and unearthly, anyone stepping inside her microcosm experienced sensory overload from all directions.

"Mila, do you want to know what I really think?" Otabek grew tired of justifying each time he needed to interact with her the reason he won't sleep with her.

"I'm listening," She stood up, her brilliant red hair rippled in waves.

"Well, I think you deserve better than the likes of me, I sat down and thought hard about my good qualities, and I couldn't think of many," _alright, that wasn't as hard as I thought._ He hung his pride outside of the door sometimes. He continued, "I know you are not looking for a commitment or anything, but, aren't you ever curious what it would be like with someone who -"

Before he could finish, Mila threw her head back and laughed until tears fell out of her bellflower eyes, her shoulders quivered, "I didn't know, inside that cold, dried up heart of yours there is a romantic."

Otabek crossed his arms, and leaned back on the fine wood of her dresser feigning a helpless expression, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"What about my good qualities then? The hermit who kept exotic pets?" Mila clutched at her stomach from elegant laughter.

"Something like that," A smirk begun to form at the corner of his lips. Mina's natural charms that weakened most men at their knees, but that didn't seem to affect him.

"This is why I like you, Altin," she crossed and uncrossed her legs, "you tell the truth instead of false words of flattery, alright, you wouldn't come find me or make small talk without any reason, what do you want?"

"I need to borrow two of your fire lizards," he spilled the beans, "I'll take good care of them, I promise." Otabek released his crossed arms and followed her.

Fire lizards lived inside volcanoes of the Wasteland, they needed to melt through the toughest stones for burrows.

Mila's blue-violet eyes darted across the floor and settled at the corner, with soundless grace she glides towards two of the lizards and scooped them up into her palm.

One of their eyes, brilliant blue with crimson scales, while the other, coated with orange with eyes like emeralds, "gorgeous aren't they?" The sound of a drawer opening and closing followed.

He nodded. Beauty radiated from everything Mila possessed, Otabek had no idea the kind of power lied within her, she unclasped the lid of a dark violet box with ribbed top and settled the fire lizards inside. When he asked her in the past about her magic, she laughed and responded: that's not important.

"Remember to feed them," she tossed him another bag.

He didn't really want to know the contents inside because from the minute sounds it made, he guessed most likely dead bugs, "thank you." He nodded at his friend.

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" Mila glanced at her perfect lavender nails.

"If you don't mind, your stable is more than adequate," Otabek raised an eyebrow, the violet cage in his hand.

"You are going to smell like horse."

"I'll sleep in another form."

"Suit yourself Beka."

"Don't call me that."

* * *

"I am going to take you apart piece by piece, like pulling legs off an insect." The figure behind the dark mask encircled Yuri's prison.

"Go ahead, Victor isn't coming," Yuri's hair matted with blood, the left side of his face still swollen and blotchy. His white tunic streaked with dried blood at the front, and shredded at the back from the strikes from whips laced with spikes earlier that day.

"Then I'll start wiping demon villages out one by one, that ought draw him out." The Faceless One fingered at his robes and fished out a black key.

Yuri spat at him, his emerald eyes narrowed.

"I am going do something much worse than killing you, Yuri Plisetsky," his dark eyes gleamed from behind the mask of the Faceless, the ancient guild that only answered to the Faerie King. He turned to his lackey, with the identical but less elaborate mask, "clip his wings."

Yuri growled at him, "you'd have to kill me first before I reveal my wings." Faeries possessed the powers to hide their wings, the root of all of their powers, at will.

"Shall I fetch the Sword of the Halfmoon?" The lackey's voice slick, dripping with mockery.

"You mean what you stole from the Centaurs?" Yuri hissed, his sense of smell nulled by the scent of blood, his own amongst others.

"Defiant, aren't we here," the masked figure leaned closer, the tip of his nose, inches from Yuri's as he invaded Yuri's prison, his breaths warm on Yuri's cheek, "hold still, dragonfly," He unsheathed the pale silver sword the same shade as moonlight, with runes reflected from the eerie blue-green Faerie light illuminating this cave that would otherwise have been beautiful. Stalactites flowed from the ceiling, creating a beautiful curtain kissing the stalagmites rising from the ground. A few bat demons with red eyes fluttered about the top of the cave.

No ordinary bars could contain the Faerie Prince as powerful as Yuri Plisetsky, however these were metal forged from the ore originating from the volcanic Wasteland that nullified all magic.

Before Yuri could move, his captor plunged the blade straight into his shoulder, with precision not to kill but to inflict agony. White hot pain accompanied warmth poured out of his shoulder. Yuri refused to cry out loud, to give the Faceless One the satisfaction.

His captor twisted the blade in a different angle, because Yuri gave him everything short of the response he wanted to elicit.

Still nothing.

A familiar sensation erupted from Yuri's back, his heart at his throat. Warmth, filling his body as his wings erupted from the last remaining parts of his white shift, now matted with dark blood and dirt.

Yuri's blood turned cold, all colours drained from his face. The realization hit him as a pebble sinking into a pond. The magic behind Sword of Halfmoon involved revelation of the true self. His crystalline wings, shined bright against the darkness of the cave. He scratched marks on the ground to keep track of days, no long aware whether it was night or day.

The lackey tugged the chain connected to the manacle around his neck and wrists until his chin hit the dark floor of the cave. A centipede crawled before his eyes, coming so close its thousands of legs tapped against the cold and dark ground. Near the centipede, a chipmunk with a tuft of red and gold hair in his back let out a frightened squeaked before darting into the darkness.

Then with a snapping sound, a flash of silver from the sword, and agony like he never experienced before, his wings drifted to the ground. Yuri bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood. His eyes stung.

"Prince Yuri," his captor stooped down and picked up his wings that spanned six feet, "you are nothing now."

Yuri trembled, his fingernails dug into his palm, refusing to give in, "fuck you," his voice reverberated through the cave.

He lost his wings, the seed of the Faerie's power. Yuri shuddered. A Faerie without wings brought shame to the family, and shall be hidden from sight. A Faerie without wings was nothing.

He became nothing.

The cloaked figure sunk to one knee and tilted his chin up, "it's a shame such a pretty face, paired up with such poisonous tongue." He struck Yuri on the side of his head.

Stars danced across Yuri's eyes.

The hinge of the prison door shut, followed by the clanking of the chains and lock.

"I'm not done with you yet, first I strip you of powers, your pride is next, dragonfly," his dark robes fluttered in the darkness, "I am going to make you crawl, and beg me to end your life, and I am going to do it slowly."

* * *

Otabek thought up until the age of ten that he belonged to the village of serpent Shapeshifters like everyone else. Then he discovered his other forms and the fact he could transform into any shape he desired, as long as he touched the animal in real life. Observing their behaviour helped too.

The actual words for his rare powers include the Universal, or the Mimic. He preferred the former, the latter sounded diluted and kind of cheap.

He mastered transforming into fire lizards over the next day, even breathing white flames like them.

The map Minami drawn for him tucked inside his pocket and imprinted into his mind, he lit a violet incense at the opening of the cave.

Every movement calculated, precise, he played all of the possibilities from inside his head.

Option one: to fly in as a dragon and set everything on fire.

Option two: stealth.

He opted for his specialty.

The violet incense in his hand sent a thin wisp of smoke into the night air. A part of his mercenary training involves resistance to various poisons. The scent of lavender, seductive and intoxicating, sent the Faerie guards into deep sleep.

Like shadows, he slid past the first four guards, now fast asleep, into the cave lit by glowing spheres of Faerie light, flickering blue and green along the walls. The fire lizards clung onto his favorite forest green shawl. He freed them from the intricate violet cage because animals naturally gravitated towards him — the most powerful shapeshifter in this realm.

The smooth rocks interspersed with moss that glowed in the dark at his feet, he took off the mask of one of the guards passed out on the floor. It fitted perfectly on his face.

A gleam of sword flashed ahead of him, accompanied by lazy footsteps. With lighting fast reflex, from the side pocket of his cloak like the night, he conjured a tube. He lifted it towards his lip and blew in the direction of the next set of guards.

Two fine needle darted their way, the tips contained enough potion to put them to sleep till the next day but not enough to kill.

No one ordinary could afford to hire Otabek, because of how damn skilled he was.

Otabek carried on trekking through the cave, a few bat demons with glowing red eyes fluttered around the ceiling. He memorized the map Minami and his rodent friends gathered, and every convoluted twist and turns.

He disarmed the two Faerie guards by the younger Prince's prison before they knew what hit them. Otabek brushed their necks with the ring he wore on his left middle finger with an onyx stone, they fell into a rumple of swords and wings.

He didn't feel like killing tonight for some reason. Though even if he stormed in here single handed, armed with the power of an Universal, he would complete the mission nevertheless.

Then he caught a glimpse of the Faerie Prince for the first time. His hair the same shade as stars, his skin pale against the gloomy prison where the stank of dried blood perpetually impregnated the air.

 _Pathetic._ Otabek's dark eyes narrowed. _The brat probably cried himself to sleep. I think he turned eighteen this year._ He almost felt sorry for the Faerie prince when his glance fell upon the place where Yuri's wings had been. He whistled as the fire lizards climbed out of his green shawl and onto his palms. He sank onto one knee and released them.

A pair of emerald eyes met his from the dungeon floor.

Otabek held one finger to his lips as the fire lizards opened their jaw one after another. Blue-white flames erupted from the mouths of such small delicate appearing creatures that fitted onto Otabek's palm. Fire lizards lived on the cliffs with rocks so tough that to be able to create burrows their fire must melt through earth as tough as diamonds.

With a snapping sound, Otabek transformed into the third fire lizard, and joined them.

Three streams of light burning as bright as comets in the sky slowly melted through the enchantments of the bars.

Otabek transformed back to his human form as the orange glow from the melting bars faded into the darkness.

"I'm not leaving," Yuri propped himself up with one arm, wincing.

 _What the fuck._ Exasperated, Otabek's brows furled together, "Oh yes you are." _Thirty. Fucking. Pieces of gold._ He couldn't ignore that sum. The demon villages need him. He promised the Triplets and Yuuko that he would fix their roof.

"Th-ey'll-," Yuri coughed and spat blood onto the dungeon floor, "start wiping Shapeshifter villages out one by one, when they find that I am gone."

Otabek froze, _your family slaughtered everyone that I ever cared about. I lost Damien because of the likes of you._ From the corner of his eye, the larger beefier guard stirred, "your kind will kill Shapeshifters anyways with or without you." He whispered. E _ven if I have to knock him unconscious or put him to sleep, he is leaving._

The fire lizards climbed up his legs, and his chest, ready to leave.

"But-," Yuri's shoulder trembled as he tried to back away towards the rear of his cell. The back of his white shift in shreds, matted with dark brown dried blood.

"Shut it," Otabek scooped him up from behind his chest and his knees, Yuri's weight surprisingly heavy for a Faerie with his frame. They must have tortured him and drained half of his blood, Otabek shook his head. _I fucking hate Faeries._

Then Yuri's starlight hair and his hot forehead brushed past Otabek's chin.

He passed out from the pain.

* * *

Otabek opened the satchel containing the kit from Yuuri, 'in case Yuri is injured'. His lips parted with awe. _He really thought things through._ Yuuri didn't seem to be one to take risks, and rashly hire someone for the price of thirty pieces of gold. Everything from instructions to needles to suture wounds, glass vials filled with medication for sedation and to prevent infection laid before him in a neat bundle. Inside even included toothbrushes and a pail to boil stream water to keep wounds clean.

The fire lizards breathed more life into the tiny flame over a pile of sticks and a log Otabek gathered inside a hidden cave in the middle of the mountains.

He cooled the boiled water and tested the temperature with his finger before washing the deep gash on Yuri's shoulder. _I am only doing this to keep him alive. He convinced himself._ He fathomed the idea of killing the Faerie prince. It would have been easy. The Royal family took away everything from him fourteen years ago. Then he thought about the triplets, the fear in the villagers' eyes of Faerie soldiers raiding. The cruel mask of the Faceless, who only answered to the Faerie king, especially haunting.

He pinched open Yuri's jaw and dispensed a few liquid drops from Yuuri's vial to keep him asleep as he begun to work on closing his wounds. The orange fire lizard with green eyes used his own body as paperweight on top of the instructions from Yuuri's neat handwriting. Otabek shudders as a wave of wind and a few snowflakes drifted into the cave.

He didn't need all of the instructions but he appreciated their thoroughness. He had to close his own wound one time on his legs, without any numbing medication, _that hurt like a son of a bitch._

Soreness crept into his neck and his shoulders as he admired his handy work on the wound on Yuri's shoulder. He had no idea how deep into the night it had been.

Yuri's lips trembled, his forehead covered with thin beads of sweat, his breaths pale and shallow against the night air. Even though the cave by the cliffs they settled in shielded them from the wind, the cold of early December seeped through penetrating their bones.

Otabek sighed, as he removed his traveling cloak and wrapped it around Yuri and edged him closer to the fire. Part of him compelled to drop the Faerie inside the fire. With a snapping sound, he Shapeshifted into an enormous wolf six feet tall.

He nestled Yuri into his winter fur.

Secretly happy that the rough texture of his fur rubbed against Yuri's ivory skin, Otabek curled up and rested his chin onto his front paws. _I just need him alive long enough to finish this job, who said he had to be comfortable?_

Then Yuuri shifted onto his side, his hand clung onto a handful of dark brown fur then buried his face in it.

Otabek opened one golden eye with annoyance before sleep claimed him.

 _I hate Faeries._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thank you for reading!

Yuri is 18 in this story.

I have always wanted to write a story where Otabek and Yuri are the main characters.

This story is set in the same universe as my completed fantasy AU: Demon Song. You do not need to read it to be able to follow this (but if you did, there are moments that'll make you smile). Chronologically this is set few lifetimes prior to Demon Song.

Let me know what you think,

-A

Chapter 2:

Otabek definitely liked Yuri better asleep or sedated


	3. Chapter 3: Arctic Rose

**Author's Note:** If you haven't read the prologue, please read it first (I posted it after the original first chapter entitled: Crow's foot).

* * *

Otabek woke up back to his human form. _I must be more tired than I thought._ He intended to stay as the giant wolf with somewhat rough winter fur to keep the Faerie next to him warm enough to stay alive but uncomfortable. He acquired that form a few years back. Lost in the forest, and chased by the enemies, the wolves kept him safe, and their leader granted him the honour of learning his form.

He found Yuri's face buried into his chest with an arm around him gripping onto his forest green scarf. Somehow the warmth seemed familiar, as if this wasn't the first time.

He shook those thoughts away.

Otabek sighed from irritation, as he begun to pry the Faerie's fingers off one by one. Instead, Yuri's clasp tightened. Beads of sweat soaked through his white tunic, and threads of his golden locks pasted onto his forehead.

"Beka, I don't care about tomorrow," Yuri's voice muffled into Otabek's black tunic, "for tonight, stay."

 _What the fuck._ _I must have heard wrong. He did not say Beka._ He shuddered as he thought of Mila's annoying nickname for him. Yuri must be delirious and talking about someone else, Otabek decided. _I never even told him my name. We never even met._

Just as Otabek pried his fingers off, Yuri's grasp tightened again on the corner of his tunic. The thought of cutting off Yuri's fingers definitely crossed his mind, but he restrained himself. Clients hired him in the past to kill, but he always declined the missions involved with torture, while rest of the world of the assassins that frequented the Crow's Foot Tavern disagreed. Otabek's bottomline regarding no torture stood firm. He still heard the sound of his twin brother's screams in nightmares sometimes when the Faceless raided their village.

He groaned inside as his eyes fell upon Yuri's bandages. His right shoulder soaked in blood again. He propped himself up, escaping the Faerie's death grip and headed for the other side of the cave.

Next to them the fire lizards chased each other's tails in circles, "little freaks, just like your master." He mumbled as he fished out the dark violet bag of lizard food Mila tossed to him before he excused himself. To his surprise, anticipating a sac of dead bugs, he found dried roots instead. He sprinkled a few pellets for the lizards. They wolfed it down before he could blink. He dropped s few more ignoring Mila's warning about them growing big too fast when overfed, "here you go, you don't have to starve when you are with me. Mila is crazy."

Still impressed with the kit that Yuuri provided with him containing everything from medication to toothbrushes and a winter coat light as gossamer but he snuck on enough merchant ships to know that the wool came from the sheep that lived on the snow covered mountain peaks of the north. _This shit is expensive._ He raised an eyebrow. He unravelled the bundle to more bandages. He narrowed his eyes as he approached the opening of the cave, whirls of snowflakes and howling wind invaded their fleeting sanctuary. Snow blanketed the mountains surrounding the cave. _We should be safe from the Faceless, for now._

He returned to the Faerie lying by the dying fire, the lizards opened their jaws one after another to rekindle the the fading embers. Blue-white flames erupted from their throat until the logs crackled once again. He couldn't help but wonder, of all animal companions, cats, dogs, falcons, parrots, the reason Mila choose fire lizards.

He flattened his traveling cloak and laid Yuri on his back and peeled back the dirty white shift soaked with brown coagulated blood. He unravelled the lace at the front of the Faerie's chest then the bandages. Yuri writhed in pain. _Stop moving._ He sighed, the mercenary part of him wanted the Faerie to suffer. He popped the glass top of a vial in Yuuri's package with his thumb and spilled a few drops into the Faerie's parted lips.

Yuri's breathing slowed down, the frown on his head softened. Otabek wiped away the trail of clear medication trickling down from the corner Yuri's lip.

He turned Yuri onto his side to tend to the wounds where his wings had been. His stomach twisted when he witnessed the two ruthless gashes along the Faerie's shoulder blades. Not even a small fragment of Yuri's wings remained. All of the Faeries' powers resided within their wings, this meant, he lost everything.

A wave of disgust courses through him. _The Faceless Ones did this._ Of course he knew about the secret guild possessing insurmountable power who only obeyed the Faerie King without question. They tried to ask him to join them more than a few times because of his reputation, to which each time the recruiter barely escaped with his life. Their Faceless' oath involved forgoing their former life and identity, including their name. The elites may earn names for themselves in the form of numbers etched in tiny silvery letters on the side of their masks. Their existence protected the Faerie King from usurpers of the crown for generations. In his opinions, power over the Faceless attributed to enabling tyranny of the Faerie Kings for the past two hundred years, from generation to generation.

He heated the pan he filled with snow over the crackling fire, and sprinkled a few drops of content from Yuuri's clear vial labelled "Infection Prevention". He set the bubbling water to the side, and waited.

After testing the temperature of the water with one finger to make sure it won't burn, he cleaned Yuri's wounds. _I am only doing this to deliver him alive to Yuuri. After that, I will take my coins, pay the Centaurs to protect the village and never take another job involving Faeries again._

His gaze stopped at the scar on the Faerie's chest next to his heart. Strange, Otabek touched his own chest, Yuri's crescent shaped mark born strange resemblance to the birthmark of his own.

Time lost its relevance as Otabek wiped beads of perspiration from his forehead as he removed his traveling cloak. Hung from his chest, a single emerald ending in a golden leaf resembling an earring. He always wore this for as long as he remembered. A pang of sadness eroded at him from the inside. _If only my mother was alive so I can ask her about the story behind the pendant. I can't remember if Damien had one._ He thought of his twin brother every day even though Damien died before his eyes when they were five.

His neck and arms ached from propping Yuri up and wrapping bandages. He admired his handy work. _Yuuri would be proud if he saw this. Usually I get paid to end lives of scum, this is the first time I get hired to save a life._

Yuri's eyes darted back and forth from behind his closed eyelids, "Beka, promise you'd never forget me?" He mumbled.

 _Beka, must be a different person,_ Otabek lowered him in his back. _The likes of him should even be allowed to dream about me._ He watched Yuri fall deeper into slumber, his eyes no longer darted back and forth, the rise and fall of his chest even, his face at peace, even vulnerable. Without realizing he started wiping the smears of dirt from the Faerie's face. Serene, peaceful, almost pretty. _What the fuck, Otabek,_ exasperated, he threw the wet cloth after he finished.

The next day Yuri woke up.

Otabek liked him much better asleep or sedated.

* * *

His emerald eyes narrowed at the sight of Otabek, "why," he propped himself up, more ambitious than he thought about his remaining strength, "I told you not to _'save'_ me from the dungeon." His back pressed against the wall of the cave, "the Faceless are going to obliterate demon villages one by one until someone hands my brother and I over you idiot!"

"Be quiet and don't move around," Otabek's eyebrow twitched with irritation, "I am sick of changing your bandages, you are going to fix it yourself next time," he fed several more logs into the fire as the lizards tiptoed toward the Faerie Prince with curiosity, "I hate to break this to you, they are going to raid the villages with or without you." He stared hard into the fire, "if you think by doing this you are protecting them, you are stupid and naive."

One fire lizard climbed up Yuri's arm, watching his face with its beady green eyes, then after realizing the Faerie meant no harm, the lizard climbed onto his shoulder. The other followed and settled on top of Yuri's head. Yuri stroked the lizard on his shoulder with two fingers.

"Little freaks, like attract like," Otabek mumbled.

"Did you say something?" Yuri hissed.

"Nope," Otabek stalked away to the lip of the cave. Wind outside howled, sending swirls of snowflakes into their temporary oasis. He blew into his palms keeping them warm. Outside their shelter, the entire world had been swallowed by snow. He sighed, _I am stuck with him for now._ The thought of leaving the Faerie here to fend for himself tempted him. But the thought of thirty pieces of gold Yuuri promised, enough to guarantee safety for the entire demon village by he would do anything to protect held him back.

Yuri's stomach growled louder than he liked, he hugged his knees closer to his chest.

Otabek sighed, "Wait here." With a snapping sound he changed into a snowy owl in perfect disguise in the snow. He spiraled towards the forest, his sharp golden eyes keen for any minute moments below.

* * *

He returned with two rabbits in his hands, roots and wild berries. He apologized before snapping their necks with his beak.

Yuri didn't move from the spot he left him at.

Very few words passed between them. Otabek skinned the rabbits with practiced precision while Yuri averted his gaze. The fire lizards ate berries out of the Faerie's hands.

Otabek sprinkled salt and spice onto the rabbits. Fat sizzled onto the logs as the droplets trickled down the stick. He always carried spices inside his satchel. This particular packet, he used sparingly. He bought it from a merchant in the south during a mission. His stomach grumbled. _I wish I am in the south right now._ He missed the scent of the ocean and the eternal summer. _Some day, when all this is over, I am going to the south for good._ His vision of retiring for good from being a mercenary involved a tiny hut by the ocean. He shook his head, _too bad mercenaries don't usually live that long._

Yuri helped himself to the rabbit, even though starved, he picked at it with controlled grace.

Otabek sighed, wondering when the raging storm would be over. Stupid Faeries, he didn't know whether the death of the Faerie King fucked up the weather or some Faerie responsible for the weather didn't do his work.

* * *

Yuuri closed the door of their hiding place in the heart of the shapeshifter village. Their hut tiny, with medicinal herbs in bundles suspended from the ceiling. His wall lined with hundreds of labeled drawers and his bookshelf overflowing with stacks on either side. He shook the stray snowflakes from his hair and his black traveling cloak.

He sighed with relief because Victor hadn't woken up. He stroked the side of Victor's cheek and kissed him of the forehead while peeling back his blanket to examine his bandages. _Good, they are clean._

"Yuuri?" Victor's silvery lashes fluttered open. His breathes rapid and shallow as he gasped the white sheets, "no," he panted, "I can't believe I slept all this time, my brother, I have to go save him!" He winced in pain as his feet hit the cold stone ground.

Yuuri rushes to stop him from standing up, he cupped Victor's face within his hands and pressed their foreheads close together, "Victor, shh, look at me," his warm brown eyes met Victor's ocean colored gaze, "Yuri is safe."

"What? How? You don't know the ways of the Faceless, they won't hesitate before torturing him, they _will_ cut off Faeries wings, they will make even the strongest crawl on their knees, wishing they were never born." Victor's eyes dark, "I have to go!" His hands grasped onto Yuuri's dark tunic.

"No!" Yuuri's hands firm onto his shoulders, "Listen, Yuri is safe." His voice calm amidst this winter storm.

Victor's grip loosened, he buried his face into Yuuri's chest.

Yuuri stroked his silvery locks and relaxed, "I hired the one person who I believe will bring Yuri back safely."

Victor glanced up at him.

"He is a Universal, the most damn powerful shapeshifter in this realm, Sara has been watching him for some time now," Yuuri pulled the black string and his cape cascaded to the ground, "his name is Otabek Altin, the sole survivor of the serpent shapeshifter clan. When the Faerie King ordered for execution of all serpents because of the prophecy that he shall die by the hands of a serpent, the Faceless killed Otabek's twin brother. He became a mercenary ever since. Efficient, deadly, able to survive anything, capable of taking down an entire army. He is a little rougher around the edges, but he doesn't believe in torture, his heart is in the right place." He skipped the fact that Otabek hated Faeries, "he has the best chance out of any of us."

"Yuuri, I -," Victor exhaled, his breathes warm against Yuuri's chest, his arm wrapped around Yuuri's waist, "-don't know how to thank you."

Yuuri begun to unravelled his own buttons revealing a sliver of his chest, Victor rested his face against the flesh next to his heart. He leaned down and kissed Victor on top of his head, "now as for you," he sealed his lips against Victor's, "this healer orders for you to get back to bed."

Without protest, Victor let him push him until his back sank into their bed. He lifted Yuuri's tunic and threw it onto the ground. Victor ran his fingers along Yuuri's tattoo resembling halfway between a leaf and a feather. The leaf of the Arctic Rose — a legendary flower that bloomed in the snow covered mountain peaks — so rare, that some didn't believe its existence.

Victor nestled his head against Yuuri's firm chest.

With one hand Yuuri pulled the covers over both of them.

"I believe our leader will come find us some day bearing _that_ sword," Yuuri held the Faerie Prince close, his finger ran along the back of Victor's neck, "one day we'll make everything right."

A small sound escaped Victor throat from his touch.

"Did I ever tell you about the origin of the Order of the Arctic Rose?" Yuuri's warm palm travelled down to Victor's midback.

Victor shook his head, next to Yuuri's soft heartbeats. The pad of his finger stroked the intricate black lines of Yuuri's tattoo, "no, tell me."

"Well, two hundred years ago, as you know from your history books, that time where the rebels came closest in ending the tyranny of the Faerie Kings." Yuuri's hand travelled down to his lower back.

"Yes, I remember that, the leaders of the rebels were executed in the Arena," Disgust saturated Victor voice when he mentioned the death matches the Faerie nobles watched for entertainment at the expenses of demons and shapeshifters.

"Amongst them were some of our founders, we don't know their real names, only their legacy."

Victor draped an arm over Yuuri's stomach.

"Stargazer was a centaur who saw the future with frightening clarity, but he never lost his sight like the rest of the Seers. And the Blacksmith, a mage whose family forged Sacred Swords for generations, whom the Faeries stalked to seize that power. When the Faceless surrounded their fortress, when all hope was gone, Stargazer had a vision of a lone figure bearing a white sword flanked by spirits. Overnight, before their walls crumbled, the Blacksmith didn't sleep, and the Sword of One Thousand Spirit was forged down to every detail in Stargazer's vision." Yuuri tightened his arms around him.

"What happened to the sword?" Victor glanced up through long silver eyelashes.

"Sacred Swords choose their owners, when the time comes, its master will return to us." Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut, "I hope that day comes soon. It's been over one hundred years, without any sign of the Sword of One Thousand Spirits."

Victor's hand travelled down his stomach, it was his turn to comfort Yuuri. He fingered at Yuuri's belt. He kissed the place next to Yuuri's heart.

"But your injuries, are you sure about tonight?" Yuuri's hand rested along the side of Victor's pink tinged cheek and surveyed The bandages around most of Victor's sculpted torso.

Victor nodded and slipped his hands beneath the fabric.

The next thing Yuuri knew, Victor's mouth slid down around him. He gripped the sheets and clasped his mouth to prevent unexpected sounds from escaping.

Victor threw the covers onto the ground, and stood up to blow out the candle, "I know you prefer the dark."

* * *

Yuri's eyes widened as his gaze transfixed on the legendary flower. He couldn't believe the arctic rose actually existed. He sunk to one knee next to the tuft of green leaves resembling feathers. In the middle, a small blue rose with the broken stem as if bowing its head. He stroked the small flower with one finger.

His brows furled together with concentration grasping the invisible tendrils of powers.

He tried again.

Nothing.

He bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood.

He couldn't bring the tiny flower back.

Cloaked by the night, hot tears spilled from Yuri's eyes onto the back of his hand and onto the dying rose. He clasped his mouth with the back of his hand forbidding any sound from escaping. He dug his fingers into his arms, until his nail-beds turned pale.

All of his powers left him when the Faceless cut off his wings. He knew that.

But the physical manifestation of such helplessness eroded at him from every direction. Everywhere he touched in his past, grass grew at his will, and wildflowers bloomed at his feet. He cherished his powers, sometimes soft and kind, other times fierce. The forest fought with him at his command. With one raised hand, spiked vine pierced through the ground to entangle his enemies.

Yuri clasped his lips, to silence his muffled sobs.

Otabek pretended to be fast asleep and not to notice.

He knew, sometimes doing nothing was better than everything. He didn't have any words of comfort for the Faerie prince, nor the responsibility. Fatigue caught up with him. The dream that haunted him decided to return tonight. An arena, monsters, a flash of emerald and gold, and blood everywhere, a blurry yet beautiful face that escaped him every time he tried to focus.

The storm raged on for another three days.

He bit the thread in his hand severing it and admired his handiwork. _This better fit._

Yuri sat next to the arctic rose, still holding onto life from its stem, bent but not broken. One of the fire Lizards curled up on top of his hair, the other fueled the fire.

Otabek tossed the pair of white earmuffs made from the rabbit's pelt in Yuri's direction.

Yuri caught them in midair.

"We are leaving soon," Otabek tucked his needle into the spook of tread, "I only made these for you because I was paid to deliver you back in one piece."

Yuri glared at him and mumbled something inaudible.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Otabek is a sweetheart but he doesn't realize it.

Let me know what you think!

* * *

Before this story gets more complicated I wrote this guide for you:

Yuuri: a mage and healer with frightening powers of entering and manipulating minds.

Victor: the eldest Faerie prince, son of the tyrant King who died, as the world plunged into chaos

Yuri: Victor's half brother, Faeries take after the names of their mother.

Otabek: a Universal, a shapeshifter who can take any form

The Faceless: masked guild of demons, Mages, Faeries who only answered to the Faerie King, only the most gifted were recruited, they could not take off their masks and their initiation involved renouncing their former life and their name. The elite received numbers in place of their names. Each time recruiters approach Otabek, they barely escaped with their lives.

Order of the Arctic Rose: founded one lifetime ago to end the tyranny of the Faerie Kings, their leaders, included Stargazer and Blacksmith, were executed when their rebellion fails. The Order members has the tattoo of the cross between a leaf and a feather.

Sacred Swords: forged by rare Mages like the Blacksmith, laced with magic. They choose their owners.


	4. Chapter 4: Only the Stars Knew

Otabek thought the snow storm would pass from when he hovered over the mountain ranges hunting for their next meal in the form of a snowy owl, but the thick grey clouds showed no signs of thinning.

The branches of the pine trees below buckled and snapped from the weight of the snow from time to time.

 _Stupid Faeries, thanks to them the weather is all fucked up. I can't wait to hand this one off to Yuuri and claim my gold and be done with all of them._ His vision sharp, his sense of direction impeccable, he glided towards the hidden cave in the middle of the mountain where he tended Yuri's wounds. He came here sometimes when he needed to be alone. During a clear crisp winter night, nowhere in the world could complete with this spot for watching the stars. He enjoyed the silence and solitude of just him and the stars, however this time, he had no other choices but to bring Yuri to his sanctuary.

A few white speckled feathers blended in with the swarm of snowflakes as he transformed back to the lip of the cave. He picked up the rabbit at his feet.

Yuri frowned as he pulled white wool coat around himself as light as gossamer but as warmer than anything he ever worn before.

"What? You don't like it when I hunt for rabbits?" Otabek ruffled his own hair ridding the snowflakes, "the hungry bears in the forest needs to eat too, you know. I gave it a quick painless death."

"There's no point reasoning with a brute," Yuri narrowed his emerald eyes and crossed his arms.

"If you rather eat rats and tree bark that can be arranged too," Otabek unravelled his forest green scarf and sat next to the fire. With one hand he unsheathed his knife, and started pelting the rabbit while Yuri picked up the water jug to fill it with snow outside to averted this scene. An unpleasant aftertaste reminded Otabek of the last time on a mission he had to eat rats to stay alive. He shuddered and decided to imagine the aroma of the spices he purchased from the south to season the rabbit with.

The sound of water pouring from behind him followed by the Faerie's footsteps and the tiny tapping feet of the Fire Lizards. Yuri wrinkles his nose as he handed the cup of water to Otabek, whose hands still covered with rabbit blood.

 _He would have been, almost pretty,_ Otabek stared absentmindedly into the fire, _if he didn't permanently have that look like there was something nasty under his nose. What the fuck is wrong with you,_ Otabek shook those thoughts away as he accepted the cup leaving bloody fingerprints. Water never tasted so good. His flight took four hours before finding this unlucky rabbit, his lips dried and cracked from the cold.

Suddenly Yuri knelt next to him and rudely tugged onto the chain he wore around his neck with a single emerald attached to an intricate golden leaf (or feather) at the end that resembling a earring, "where did you get this?" A new urgency filled his voice.

The ghost of his cold fingertips lingered on Otabek's skin.

"I always had it," the pendant's comforting weight fell against his skin, "What of it?"

"Nothing, it's Faerie craftsmanship," Yuri's eyes widened all of a sudden, he clutched the left side of his forehead and winced.

"It's be nice if my parents and twin brother were alive so I could ask them where where this came from," Otabek sighed, "but thanks to your kind, I have no home or family left." _Good, suffer, because you deserved it._ But the rational side of him pulled back. _It wasn't him. When everything happened Damien and I were five years old, which meant Yuri must've been no more than three._ He glanced at the Faerie before him steadying himself with one arm on the damp cave floor, _he really is in pain._

Beads of sweat dotted Yuri's forehead, his eyes hazy as if he was waxing and waning in and out of consciousness. Then he plunged headfirst and fell against Otabek's shoulder.

"Yuri? What's wrong?" Otabek shook him. With a sigh he scooped the Faerie up, surprised at his weight and carried him to their makeshift bed. Otabek rested Yuri head on his lap while he wiped his forehead with a small washcloth. _I hope his wounds aren't infected._ A sickening knot tightened from within his stomach as he peeled back Yuri's wool coat and white shift to survey the bandages around his torso and the places his wings was. Everything seemed clean. Otabek pressed the back of his hand on his own forehead then compared it to Yuri's temperature. _He isn't burning, this is a good sign. Please wake up,_ Otabek needed Yuri alive and in one piece to claim his gold.

Yuri's troubled face then softened, as if the nightmare that claimed him had left. His breathing returned to being shallow and rapid to even and slow, "Promise you won't forget," he mumbled.

Otabek rolled his own traveling cloak into a pillow and tucked it under Yuri's golden mane, soft locked brushed past his fingers.

He returned to the fire and continue roasting the rabbit, until the drops of fat sizzled into the fire. The Fire Lizards never left Yuri's side.

* * *

Yuri remembered everything.

That pendant around Otabek's neck was the single earring he wore.

He gave it to him.

He propped himself up and clasped is hand against his mouth to steady his wild heartbeats and to prevent any sound from escaping.

The rebellion failed, and the founders of the Arctic Rose executed in the Arena preceded by drum beats and loud cheers. As those drums mimicking fading heartbeats stopped, Otabek held him against his solid chest as everyone he had known and loved perished.

He stumbled until he reached the opening of the cave.

The snow stopped.

One million stars from above painted across the deep blue sky glistened in a milky band.

Yuri stood in the cold and closed his eyes. He clutched the fabric before his chest next to the birthmark that on occasion burnt. That was the place where Otabek pierced through both of them with his sword in the Arena one lifetime ago, where the Faerie nobles thrown them together to either fight each other to death or ripped limb to limb by demons. The night before, Yuri gave him everything, including his first time, Sacred to the Faerie kind. He traded his golden ear cuff to the old prison guard for a bucket of bath water, two slices of pies and a lamp.

"Beka," He whispered, the sensation of their bodies joint, lingered within him like yesterday, "you promised," his breaths white from the cold, "you said you would never forget." He promised himself he wouldn't cry, but with the floodgate of memories opening, hot drops tricked down his cheeks, the bottom of his chin and melting the snow.

With a sharp turn he fist collided with the cold stone wall next to his Arctic Rose that he couldn't bring back. Though barely holding on, part of the stem still stayed in tact. The blue shade remained in its petals, as if refusing to give in. Yuri sank onto his knees and held the flower within his palms and grasped at the air with his mind for any tendrils of hope and any remnants of his power. Thorns bit into his fingers while the back of his hands brushed against its leaves coated by fine hair, resembling angels' feathers.

He stood up, as the Fire Lizards knew that he wanted to be alone, they disappeared into the depth of the cave.

Otabek slept by the fire with one hand as his pillow. Half of the roasted rabbits remained. His black traveling cloak falling off his side. His face peaceful, his dark eyes darted back and forth from beneath his lids. He must be dreaming.

"Beka," Yuri pulled his traveling cloak over him. His fingers unfurled as he hesitated for a moment before tracing the angular outline of Otabek's cheek down to the pendant around his neck, "you forgot about me". He sniffled. Nobody had ever seen him cry before, not even Victor. A hot drop of tear disappeared onto the cold cave floor.

Yuri decided he would never tell Otabek about their past. Or about the prophecy from the last lifetime that came true in the most twisted and unexpected way in the arena: _"Yuri Plisetsky shall die by the hands of his beloved."_ He touched his birthmark on his chest, the same place where Otabek pierced both of their hearts so they could fade away side by side with dignity rather that fighting monsters until their bodies gave out amidst the cruel laughter of the Faerie Nobles.

Before Yuri knew it, he leaned down and pressed his lips against Otabek's. Soft as the wings of a Mayfly. He promised himself this would be the last time. He would tell Otabek nothing. After all, Otabek had sworn to take down the entire Royal family, the Nobles and the Faceless as well. Even though Yuri and Victor had been Faerie princes by name, their father neglected them all their lives.

He wiped the glistening trails of tears from his face for good. Without wings, he already lost everything. He decided this was rock bottom, and he that had a choice. He could continue to linger in the abyss as the walking dead, or he could learn to stand up on his own again.

He remembered the legend of the Arctic Rose his half brother Victor read to him as a child. _As long as the Arctic Rose bloomed over the snow covered peaks, hope may never die._

A part of him wanted nothing more than Otabek arms around him, holding him against his solid chest, and falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeats. He wanted to wake him up and shake him until he remembered.

Yuri decided their story would remain a secret that only the stars knew, as a pebble tossed into a bottomless lake, or a raindrop lost in the ocean.

* * *

The next day Yuri woke up to the sound of Otabek pouring water over the fire.

"We are leaving," all of his possessions now wrapped in two neat bundles, Otabek swung his sheathed sword over his shoulder.

Before he picked up the spare sword, thin and plain, Yuri stopped him in his tracks, "give me that."

"You can fight?" Otabek raised an eyebrow as he tossed it to the Faerie.

"Of course I can," Yuri unsheathed his sword and frowned, "you fight like a brute, you have been abusing it." He examines it in the light.

"Well fighting like a brute got the job done," Otabek grumbled, uninterested in carrying on the conversation. _How could someone with a face like be paired with such a venomous tongue._

"We'll see about that," a small smirk crept on Yuri's face, "draw your sword, and show me that you live up to your reputation, Altin."

Otabek unsheathed his sword from his back, its dark blade reflected the light from the snow outside, "you don't stand a chance, Faerie."

Yuri launched his strike first, as s flash of gold and silver, quick, precise, calculated, determined.

Otabek deflected his advances with ease, as their swords clashed before his eyes.

The Fire Lizards darted out of the way.

Yuri feigned two attacks then Otabek sidestepped just in time to fend off his real strike.

 _Not bad,_ Otabek pursed his lips, _looks like I won't hold back any longer._ He could not help but notice, more life returned to the Faerie's emerald eyes than he ever seen.

 _Clank!_

 _Clank! Clank!_

Yuri leapt into the air as Otabek aimed for his legs then he launched himself back at Otabek by kicking the side of the cave wall.

As much as he loathed the Faerie, he hasn't had this much fun in s long time. _So he wasn't as spoiled and as useless as the rest of the Faerie Royalty._ From the corner of his eyes, he watched the rate the Faerie's chest rose and fell accelerating. _I am going to end this._ With four consecutive attacks, his agility unparalleled, he knocked the sword out of Yuri's hands. _He's good, to last this long against me, while injured too, but not good enough._

Before Yuri's sword impacted the ground, Otabek's eyes widened because a sense of strange familiarity washed over him. Like reliving that blurry dream that haunted him over and over. Monsters, an Arena, flashes of gold and silver, a beautiful face he couldn't make out the features of. Each time he tried to reach out towards that image, it escaped him. His heart raced.

Yuri sheathed his sword and noticed Otabek's expression resembled someone who just saw a ghost, "What? Did I scare you shitless?"

"Shut up," still unsettled, Otabek slid his sword back into the sheath on his back. Before he knew it, he reached out and grasped onto Yuri's forearm, "Yuri," his voice without its usual edge, "have we met before?"

The Faerie's expression softened, as the calm before the storm, within his forest green eyes radiating everything other than hatred. A strand of gold locks fell covered half of his face, after a brief moment of hesitation Yuri shook his head.

* * *

"Tell anyone about this and I will skin you alive," Otabek glared at him. The cardinal rule for shapeshifters: their animal forms were not to be ridden, because that made them no different from animals. He transformed, his fingers elongated into claws. Out of all the forms he learnt that could fly, to be able to carry the supplies and Faerie, he didn't have another choice.

Yuri clutched his stomach and laughed at the gargoyle before him, "damn, if a bat and a pig had a baby, I now know what that looks like."

Otabek snapped his head back, bared his crooked teeth and hissed. He resisted the urge to bite Yuri's head off. He plotted to make Yuri's flight as miserable as possible.

Yuri strapped Otabek's compact travel supplies to himself then climbed onto the gargoyle's back. He sank his hands into Otabek's rough and leathery skin missing patches of hair, "couldn't you have picked up a more graceful form?"

Otabek descended sharply, his leathery wings flapping against the wind, "none of my other flying forms could -" another sharp turn, "fit the supplies and your ass." He knew better to attempt to transform into forms he never learnt with the risk of being stuck halfway between human and animal for a few days before the magic wore off. Young shapeshifters often made that mistake when their powers first awakened.

They flew over the mountains and pine forest blanketed by the snow. Yuri squinted because of the bright reflection of the snow into his eyes. Wind whistled by his pointed ears hidden by the white earmuffs Otabek made from the rabbit's pelt. His ears were the warmest part of his body.

Otabek lurched in the left all of a sudden, Yuri and their bag of supplies almost fell, as a flaming arrow narrowly missed them.

* * *

Author's Note:

Writing Otayuri has such a different vibe as Victuuri, I find the latter easier.

Please let me know what you think! I appreciate every comment, it's the most a creator could ask for. I haven't been getting as much feedback for this story as some of my other works, but I like it enough to keep going & at this point I write more for myself rather than for external validation. But there are writers who become discouraged and stop for that reason. So I encourage you to leave feedbacks because only if you have written a multi-chapter fic yourself, you'd understand the hours, the planning, the editing and refreshing your stats screen to see if anyone out there is reading.

I grew as a writer since my first story, thank you to those who were with me since day 1.

And yes, this story is my baby.

xoxo

Antares

* * *

Re: reviews:

midnightsky0612: thank you very much for your support after every chapter! Yes, these two idiots will figure things out eventually. Hope you enjoyed this chapter

Karomorali: thanks so much for your kind words, I had a lot of fun creating this world & its details. My completed story Demon Song is set in the same universe but in a different lifetime if you want to see more of this world.


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